Local area networks such as Ethernet are well known. Most local area networks are wired, so that each station is connected directly or indirectly to all other stations by cabling or wires, thus providing full connectivity between all stations. Such local area networks avoid collisions and achieve efficient use of the communications channel by well known carrier sensing and collision avoidance schemes. Such schemes are typically not suitable for wireless networks. Communication systems that utilize coded communication signals are also well known in the art. One such system is a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular communication system such as set forth in the Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Association International Standard (TIA/EIA IS-95), hereinafter referred to as IS-95.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a conventional prior art CDMA system. In the system shown in FIG. 1, base stations 110 and 120 are connected to a base station controller 130 and a mobile switching controller 140 which is in turn connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 150 and a public land mobile network (PLMN) 160 using known techniques.
In the system shown in FIG. 1, when a communication unit (CU) 105, 107, or 106 initiates a call sequence to either one of the base stations 110 and 120 within a coverage area, an end-to-end connection is established between the respective base stations, the base station controller 130 and the MSC 140 using known CDMA call setup techniques. The base stations 110 and 120 typically communicate with the BSC 130 and the MSC 140 via communication links, such as a T1 connection. Base stations 110 and 120 typically have antennas to define the coverage area within which either base stations primarily accommodate the communication units.
With the proliferation of wireless devices in the office and school environment, the communication system shown in FIG. 1 can be very expensive if implemented in an office or in-building environment. The system in FIG. 1 also has the inherent problem of wireless voice and data signal quality degradation if implemented in an in-building environment.
To alleviate the problems of the system shown in FIG. 1 and with the advent of enterprise based wireless networks, some prior art CDMA systems implement the system shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 includes a plurality of clients, a plurality of base transceiver stations 201, 202, 203, and a set of base station controllers 110 and 120, which are coupled to O&M sever 210 and a mobile switching center 140. O&M server 210 is coupled to O&M clients 215 and 220. In the system illustrated in FIG. 2, a wireless base station is connected to existing ethernet network infrastructure to enable the CDMA system to utilize existing internet protocol techniques to allow communication between wireless devices connected to the ethernet network.
The system in FIG. 2 utilizes a combination of wireless signaling protocol and media gateway protocol to allow wireless call handling and other multi-media data transmission. A wireless signaling protocol is necessary in order to handle mobile terminals. Communications on the LAN is implemented between requesters of information (clients) and providers of the information (servers) via a communication protocol such as a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
Despite the robustness of the system in FIG. 2 in an in-building wireless environment, there are some disadvantages which characterize such systems and other prior art CDMA systems when it comes to the maintenance and operation of such systems.
First, in these conventional systems such as that in FIG. 2, the method of operating and maintaining of the wireless network is by connecting an operation and maintenance server(s) to the wireless network using either SS7, X.25 or other LAN connections. In these systems, a operation and maintenance center is equipped with operation and maintenance servers with associated operation and maintenance tools. Access to the servers is limited to operations and maintenance client systems which are physically connected to the network.
Due to the mobility constraints of such systems, a technician is required to be stationed in the O&M center to physically monitor the operation of the network. With the proliferation and advances of the internet and intranets, some O&M clients can be remotely connected to the O&M servers to handle the required network management of these systems. As accessibility to the internet from remote locations continues to become more widely available and convenient, utilizing the internet to perform such tasks such as remote system operation and maintenance becomes increasingly desirable. Some methods have been developed in the prior art to allow for such remote access management. However, such methods require access to the O&M server via a Call Agent connected to the network. Processing O&M server calls through the Call Agent can be time consuming, cumbersome and take Call Agent resources away from conventional mobile devices accessing the network.
Thus, it is desirable to have a system and a method for handling remote access requests to a CDMA wireless enterprise system for system operation and maintenance management. There is a further desire to have a system for transmitting CDMA calls including voice and data over a communication pathway with a higher bandwidth such as the internet. It is further desirable to have a CDMA system that handles the transmission of calls, especially data calls, without the inherent difficulties of using a variety of transmission protocols for the same call. A need further exists for improved and less costly systems which improve efficiency and the transmission rate and time of calls between a mobile unit and a base station and between base stations and a base station controller and between adjacent base stations.